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Chief of the General Staff Vézé had once said in class, "Different perspectives give completely different views of the world!" Li Ji was not tall, only about 165 centimeters, which was considered average height in this era. However, when he was in Vézé's class, he had to look up at Vézé, who was over 175 centimeters tall.
When Li Ji entered the hot-air balloon, he finally experienced what Vézé had said. Li Ji, who could only look at others at eye level, was now in the hot-air balloon, and the people outside the hot-air balloon had to look up at him. When the hot-air balloon gradually rose, Li Ji was completely looking down at the crowd below him. Even the tall mountain in the distance gradually became parallel to Li Ji's line of sight.
As an artillery observer, he had to learn how to guess the situation of the enemy's position based on the information he received. However, there was always a limit to imagination. No matter how much he imagined, it would not be as accurate as climbing the pole of the artillery observation post. However, the height of the pole always had a limit. Standing on the hot-air balloon, Li Ji felt for the first time the possibility of an unlimited rise.
Everything on the ground became smaller. Li Ji ordered Wu Wenguang, "Ask the ground, how high are we?"
Wu Wenguang sent out the flag signal and quickly received a response from the ground. He turned his head to Li Ji and said, "We have already risen to 30 feet."
He surveyed the Qing Army's position. Even if he stood on the artillery observation post, it was only four or five meters. Right now, Li Ji's height was already twice the height of the observation post. Adding Li Ji's own height, he looked down even more. Originally, he could only see the position of the artillery in front of the Qing Army's position. Now, he could see the entire position of the Qing Army. Taking out a map, Li Ji clipped it to the map board and took out the "clairvoyant" from his bosom. Pulling out the lens, the Qing Army's position appeared even more clearly in his eyes.
"In the West, there is a tree called Shigan. Its stem is four inches long, and it grows on high mountains, facing an abyss of a hundred feet. The stem cannot grow, but it stands … Therefore, a gentleman must choose a place to live, and a place to travel. That is why one must guard against evil and stay close to justice." Li Ji recited the content of Xunzi's "Exhortation to Learning" in his heart.
Vézé had ordered the entire army to read the "Encouragement to Learn" for all cultural classes. Even if they did not understand classical Chinese, they had to learn it if it was translated into vernacular. Li Ji was able to stand out in the cultural exam not because of his mathematics and other subjects, but because Vézé's cultural course did not test the Four Books and Five Classics. Instead, it tested the contents of Xunzi and Tao Te Ching. This was Li Ji's forte.
Li Ji really liked Xunzi's essay. After serving in Vézé's army for nearly a year, Li Ji discovered that he was increasingly able to experience the benefits of the 'Exhortation to Learning'. If Li Ji did not choose to join Vézé's army, then he could only stay at home filled with fear and resentment. How could he stand on a hot air balloon, high up in the sky? How could he receive so much education in Vézé's army and see a whole new world?
Everything that happened today was because Li Ji chose to follow Vézé. Li Ji felt that Xunzi's words were very well said, "A gentleman must choose a place to live, and a place to travel. That is why one must guard against evil and stay close to justice." After following Manchu Qing for nineteen years, Li Ji did not even pass the county examination. Now, he was already a second lieutenant. Moreover, Li Ji believed that he would definitely have a wider space. Those old pedants who taught the Four Books and Five Classics were once the targets of Li Ji's envy. Now, Li Ji felt that they were not worth a fart. There was no lack of people in the Taiping army who understood the Four Books and Five Classics. However, among the old pedants, there was not a single one who knew how to build a hot air balloon.
"Second lieutenant! Next, ask us the data! "Wu Wenguang said from behind Li Ji.
"Okay!" Li Ji collected his thoughts. According to the marked positions on the map, he told Wu Wenguang the approximate numbers of the Qing Army's artillery, cavalry, and infantry. Wu Wenguang used semaphore to transmit this data to the ground. Then, the staff on the ground used this data to roughly determine the position of the Qing Army.
The mountain wind grew stronger. The rope tied to the side of the gondola gradually became taut. Because of the tension from both the balloon and the rope, the gondola began to creak.
Li Ji did not care about this at all. Wu Wenguang shyly shouted, "Second lieutenant, should we first let the people below pull the rope down?"
The wind was strong. If they did not shout, they might not be able to be heard clearly. However, if they shouted, some of their emotions might not be expressed. Li Ji could only try his best to shout, "Why would we pull it down? We still have to go higher. There are still some places that we can't see clearly over at Qing Yao. "
"But this bamboo looks too thin. It can't withstand the force. If we pull it like this, I'm afraid it will break." Wu Wenguang bravely voiced his opinion.
Li Ji put down his all-seeing eyes and said impatiently, "If the gondola is too heavy, it won't be able to rise high. The alcohol in the alcohol burner is limited. It's impossible to burn it for several hours … "
As he spoke, a sudden gust of wind blew. The gondola shook violently. The two people in the gondola swayed violently and were almost thrown out of the gondola. Outside the hot air balloon was a net made of ropes. When the huge balloon was blown by the wind, the ropes in the net were all pulled taut. The bamboo gondola rattled even louder.
This time, Li Ji felt that something was wrong. He could no longer refute Wu Wenguang's words. Li Ji looked down. Looking down from a distance of ten meters, Li Ji could not help but feel slightly dizzy. He turned his head and shouted to Wu Wenguang, "Quick, climb onto the rope net!"
Wu Wenguang's face was full of fear. His hands tightly gripped the gondola. At this time, the sound coming from the gondola was no longer a creaking sound. Instead, it was the sound of bamboo snapping. Li Ji grabbed Wu Wenguang's hand and moved his hand from the gondola to the rope net. Those who could be sent into the sky were relatively clever. Wu Wenguang already understood Li Ji's meaning. The two people in the gondola both began to climb toward the rope net.
At this time, an even more violent gust of wind blew. The gondola could no longer withstand the enormous force and was torn to pieces in the air. Before the flying fragments could fall to the ground, the huge balloon broke free from the ropes. Following the wind, it floated toward the Qing Army's position. The observers and signal flag-bearers tightly held onto the cobweb-like rope net on the balloon. They followed the balloon and floated toward the Qing Army's position.
When Jiangnan's Admiral and Official He Chun learned that a strange thing had appeared among the Cantonese bandits, the hot air in the hot air balloon had inflated the balloon's airbag. When Admiral He Chun came out with his bodyguards to watch, the hot air balloon slowly rose up.
To tell the truth, Official He Chun was not afraid of the thing on the Taiping army's position. Although he couldn't see it clearly, no matter how he looked at it, it seemed to be a man-made object. The balloon's airbag looked dirty. The gondola below it also didn't look very exquisite. As for the two figures on the gondola, they were clearly standing on top of the gondola.
Although he didn't know what the Cantonese bandits had made this thing, Admiral He Chun was completely sure that it wasn't anything magical.
It was just that Admiral He Chun had a high position of power and was experienced and knowledgeable. He was able to make a relatively accurate judgment. The Qing Army subordinates under Admiral He Chun didn't have Admiral He Chun's qualities. They couldn't understand something that could fly in the sky at all. Therefore, each and every one of the Qing Army soldiers was dumbstruck. They stared at the thing floating in the sky from a distance.
Before their morale suffered a heavy blow, Admiral He Chun made a prompt decision. He ordered his subordinates, who were supposed to exorcise the evil spirits from the artillery, to hurry up and perform the 'ritual'. In the Qing Army, this kind of thing that performed the ritual was considered a common commodity. The cannon that Admiral He Chun was carrying right now wasn't very large. If it was a cannon that weighed hundreds of kilograms, the Qing Army would generally give the cannon the title of Great General. There were also things like incense, candles, and tributes.
At this time, the Qing Army already felt that the failure of the artillery battle was due to the Cantonese bandits using some kind of evil method. Seeing the hot air balloon in the sky, they were even more certain of their belief.
The army didn't bring any monks or Taoists, but this didn't pose a problem for the Chinese. According to China's materialistic cultural tradition, everyone naturally adopted the Confucian theory of 'the unity of man and nature'. If the theory of 'the unity of man and nature' was explained in a vulgar way, then whoever had a higher official would be more favored by the heavens. In this way, this person's prayers would be more easily heard by the heavens and would be answered.
As the person with the highest position here, Admiral He Chun was naturally the most suitable person to be responsible for praying to the heavens. Unfortunately, Admiral He Chun didn't believe in this. In a sense, Admiral He Chun was the same as the upper echelons of the Taiping Rebellion. He knew very well that he was able to reach his current position because he had stepped on the failures of many people. And these people's failures weren't because they lost to illusory ghosts or gods, but because they lost to real living people. Having personally experienced the battlefield where flesh and blood flew everywhere, how could Admiral He Chun really believe in the predestination of ghosts and gods?
However, it was precisely because of this that Admiral He Chun was very clear about the importance of this laughable theory of ghosts and gods for the lower echelons. Although Admiral He Chun hadn't studied idealism and materialism, the so-called 'idealism' and 'materialism' were all words created to explain the reality that humans faced. When faced with an irresistible unknown, humans would involuntarily choose a more idealistic model. This was because the idealistic model was nothing more than 'how big the heart is, how big the world is'. Problems that couldn't be solved in the real world could be easily solved in the idealistic world. Even if this kind of feeling couldn't solve any real problems, it could always act as a mental anesthetic.
Therefore, the opposite Taiping army didn't show any signs of attacking. Admiral He Chun personally presided over a simple exorcism ceremony.
However, halfway through the ceremony, the opposite thing floating in the sky suddenly floated towards the Qing Army. Admiral He Chun roughly saw the entire process, and he became even more unafraid of the thing in the sky. That movement was admittedly strange, but it clearly showed that something had been pulled off. If it was really being driven by someone, it wouldn't have such a terrible performance. Since it had such a terrible performance, it should mean that something was going to happen to the Cantonese bandit floating in the sky.
And things really developed as Admiral He Chun expected. Admiral He Chun's exorcism ceremony had just finished when the thing in the sky emitted black smoke. Very quickly, it burned and fell down.
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